Rush of Blood to the Head
by Erik deSoir
Summary: Songfic: Coldplay. Warnings: character death. One of my favourites of mine by far. HD


Title: Rush of Blood to the Head

Author: Erik deSoir

Disclaimer: Upon reading the inside cover of the fifth book, I was suprised with the fact that I do not own Harry Potter!

Pairing: Harry/Draco

Warnings: Previous character death, insanity

Note: This is a songfic. I am a songfic junky, I swear. The song I'm using is "Rush of Blood to the Head," from Coldplay's album, _Rush of Blood to the Head_. I own it not. ALSO, it is a little confusing. I sort of jump around. I'll tell you what, anything in italics is a memory.

**He said I'm gonna buy this place and burn it down  
I'm gonna put it six feet underground  
He said I'm gonna buy this place and watch it fall**

"Tear it down. I want nothing but a crater where this once stood." Draco Malfoy stood facing a house that looked like all the other houses on that street.

"But, Mr. Malfoy, I'm afraid it isn't yours to lay waste to," said a hunched little man.

"I don't give a shit! I'll buy it and fucking have it obliterated! This is the residence of Vernon Dursely. I want it gone! And I want it gone now!" Draco turned away, his robes swirling in the high wind.

**Stand here beside me baby, in the crumbling walls  
Oh I'm gonna buy this place and start a fire  
Stand here until I fill all your heart's desires  
Because I'm gonna buy this place and see it burn  
Do back the things it did to you in return**

It was November, but it wasn't cold. The Durselys, strangely enough, moved out of their comfortable Surrey home two weeks ago. Now stood a man before their old house, watching it burn to the ground.

"I told you I would do it. I knew you wanted this house to be leveled," Draco's voice cracked, "I never wanted you to see this house again. Oh gods, what they must have done to you. Oh my love, I would give anything to have you here beside me..."

**Ah,ah,ah  
He said oh I'm gonna buy a gun and start a war  
If you can tell me something worth fighting for**

_"I don't want this! I never wanted this!" Harry ranted._

_"I know that, love! I know that. But it can't be helped. Listen, even if you weren't 'The Chosen One,' wouldn't you still want to kill him?" Draco questioned the pacing male._

_Harry snorted, "That's just what Dumbledore said." Harry sighed and sat down. Then he finally said, "I...yes. I would still want to be the one to kill him. The thing is, though, were I a normal person with a vendetta, I wouldn't be a target. He uses everyone around me to get to me. I hate it! It isn't fair!" He got up and started pacing again._

_Draco sighed. He hadn't a clue what to do or say to make the man before him calm down. He knew he had said the wrong thing as soon as it left his mouth. He really didn't know what brought it on, either. 'I really ought to stop being so sodding selfish.' He took a stab, "I'm sorry. I never thought of it that way. I'm really a stupid idiot, huh? I should have looked at it from your perspective. I'm sorry, and I'll try to never say anything stupid like that again."_

_Harry stopped pacing, "You...you just apologized."_

_Draco looked into Harry's eyes and said, "Yes, I did. I am sorry. I really didn't see it that way, and I realize how insensitive I must have sounded. I will try to watch my tongue. I don't want to make you think of things that ought not to be thought."_

_"Oh Draco, I love you, sodding git."_

**Oh and I'm gonna buy this place, that's what I said  
Blame it upon a rush of blood to the head**

Hermione looked at Draco. She couldn't believe it was actually him. He was so thin and so pale. This was certainly not the Draco she remembered from school, or even the war.

"Draco?" she said tentatively.

The man jerked and looked up, red-eyed. He didn't seem to recognize the woman standing in front of him. His eyes squinted, then suddenly, "How the fuck did you get in, Granger?"

Hermione shook her head, "Your wards are no match for me, I'm afraid." She bit her lip. She had heard about his burning down the Dursely's residence. She had no idea that Draco even knew about them.

"Draco? Why did you burn down that house?"

The limp form became lively, "Because they treated Harry like shit! They didn't know what a treasure they had! They just fucked him up and sent him on his way! He always said he would liked to have torn that house down. But..." Draco trailed off. Tears began leaking out of his eyes.

"Oh, Draco! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to..."

Draco shook his head, but continued crying. Hermione kneeled in front of him and took his hands in hers. "I miss him, too," she said softly, tears welling in her own eyes.

Draco nodded, his lower lip sticking out, attempting to keep the tears at bay. He slid down from the chair he had been sitting in and grasped Hermione to him. She wrapped her arms around him and held him while he wept.

**And honey  
All the movements you're starting to make  
See me crumble and fall on my face  
And I know the mistakes that I made  
See it all disappear without a trace**

"Draco, mate, look what I've found you!"

"Ron, really, I'm peeing myself with anticipation."

Ron sniffed. But that façade didn't last long. His face cracked with a grin as he held out a package wrapped in brown paper. "Here," Ron said proudly, "I've only just put it together. I spent a fortune on it, too. Don't worry 'bout paying me back. Just consider it an early Christmas present, eh?"

Draco lifted an eyebrow, "What is it?"

Ron kept grinning and said, "Just open it."

Draco walked with it into one of the drawing rooms just off the foyer. He set it gently onto a table and began peeling back the paper. When he had it uncovered, he gasped. There on the table was a photo album of Draco and Harry.

The blond looked at Ron, shocked, "H-how did you find these?"

Ron shook his head, "Don't you worry 'bout, right? Just know that it took me ages to find anything to put in it and the rest was help from 'Mione. I did the photos, she filled in the gaps. Now listen, I've got to run. Still on for dinner tomorrow?"

Draco nodded and Ron left.

**And they call as they beckon you on  
They say start as you mean to go on  
Start as you mean to go on**

_"This is it, Draco. I am finally going to kill him and be done with the basterd. In two days' time, he will be dead and I will finally get to be normal. Two more days. We're so lucky Snape told us about them gathering. And it's in two more days! After all this we'll move into the Manor, get married, make lots of babies, and live happily ever after, right?" Harry said, his head in Draco's lap._

_Silver eyes twinkled with glee, "Yes, my love, lots of babies."_

_The black-haired boy sat up suddenly and said, "Why don't we get married now, huh?"_

_Draco frowned, "No, I want lots of guests. I want the white tuxes and the flowers and the food. I want big, I want glamorous, I want gaudy!"_

_Harry laughed, "Ah yes, silly me. You may be a nice little dragon now, but you're still a Malfoy deep down."_

_"Damn straight."_

**He said I'm gonna buy this place and see it go  
Stand here beside me baby, watch the orange glow  
Some'll laugh and some just sit and cry  
But you just sit down there and you wonder why**

Draco stood in his office, looking out over the grounds from his window. He pressed his forehead against the cool glass and sighed.

"Harry, do you remember when you took me to the Dursley's? And you said you wanted to burn that house down, to see it be destroyed? Well, I did it. I'm sure you're already aware of it, haha. I just," he sighed, "I just wanted to tell you myself. It's been ages since I bought that grubby old house and set fire to it. I'm sure you're well-aware of that, too."

Draco turned from the window, his eyes on the photo album Ron had given him weeks ago. Draco had propped it open to a picture of Harry when he was in school. It had, no doubt, been taken by Colin Creevy. Draco reached out and traced the face of the photo.

"I wish you could have seen the orange glow."

**So I'm gonna buy a gun and start a war  
If you can tell me something worth fighting for**

_Everything stopped. Time stood still for this moment. Even it wanted to see._

_It was the most beautifully heartbreaking sight anyone had ever seen. The graceful arch of the boy's body as it fell toward the ground. Green light swirled around him, enveloped him, embraced him. It was like a sweet lover saying good night. When the body hit the ground, the green light faded, as if it did not want to go, as if still trying to play the lover. But left him it did. _

_The silence was broken by a single soul-wrenching wail. _

**I'm gonna buy this place, that's what I said  
Blame it upon a rush of blood to the head**

"Draco, you can't do this anymore! Please," Hermione cried onto Draco's chest.

"Watch it, Granger, you'll ruin my dressing gown," said a groggy Draco.

"Oh Draco!" Hermione threw herself at the blond. He petted the back of her head and noticed the tubes coming from the back of his wrist.

"What happened, hm?"

Hermione let go and sat back. She sniffed and hiccupped. When she began speaking, she looked down at her lap, "I was worried about you. No one had heard from you in weeks. We all tried flooing in, but we were blocked. Of course apparition was out of the question. You never answered any of our owls. So finally, I apparated to the town outside the Manor and hiked my bloody way to your house."

She sniffed again, but continued, "The whole house was silent. I could have heard my heart beating if it weren't for the fact that I was listening to the silence, willing it to break." Here she broke down a little, "I found you in your office. You were sitting in you chair, looking at that album Ron and I made for you. Y-your wrists were slashed o-open a-and there was b-blood everywhere!" The brunette girl threw herself at Draco again, sobs renewed.

He whispered, to her, as he petted the back of her head again, "I can't stand it, Hermione. I cannot stand the thought of not seeing him anymore. I can't-"

"Draco! Good God, mate, you gave us a scare!" Ron shouted. He was just passing the room when he saw the man awake with a lapful of Hermione. Ron strode over and pulled Hermione off of him. She hiccupped and tried to brush the tears from her face.

Ron looked down at Draco, "You're not going to try that stunt again, are you? Because if you do, I will move into that musty ol' Manor and babysit your stupid arse."

Draco smiled and said, "Ah, but the Manor is quite large. I should hope you wouldn't get...lost?" He lifted an eyebrow at the last word and smirked.

Hermione let out a small laugh. "Draco, please promise you won't do anything like this again. Please."

"I can't promise anything. I am a Malfoy. We don't make promises."

That night after Ron and Hermione left, Draco lie in bed staring out of the window. He was thinking on what he had been about to say before Ron had burst in the room.

"I can't stand being alive with him dead."

**And honey  
All the movements you're starting to make  
See me crumble and fall on my face  
And I know the mistakes that I made  
See it all disappear without a trace**

Hermione had insisted on staying with Draco a few days after being released from the hospital.

"Hermione, really, can't we do this some other time?"

"No, I don't think so," the witch shook her head. She had a handful of cards, psychologists' and counseling groups; the hospital had shoved them at her as she left with him.

"How about this one?" she flung a card at him. He deftly caught it and looked at it, sneering, "'Unhappy? Feeling Alone? We Can Help!' Really, if that's the best-"

She flung another one at him, "Try this one."

He stared at it and dropped it, not bothering to read it aloud. "Hermione, come now. I don't need this crap. I'm fine. Really! I was just drunk and feeling depressed. I don't think I'll be mixing those two ever again. From now on, I will be a happy drunk!"

Draco ducked the stern look Hermione gave him and ate his breakfast.

The girl sighed, "Fine. I'm just worried about you. I don't want another friend to die. It was bad enough with Ginny and Cedric and Neville and L-Luna and H-Harry. I really don't want to lose you, too. Do you understand?"

During this little speech, the blond looked up from his food and stared, shocked, at the witch. He nodded his head yes when she finished.

"Good," she sniffed a little, "Eat your breakfast."

**And they call as they beckon you on  
They said start as you mean to go on  
As you mean to go on, as you mean to go on**

_"We are gathered here to mourn the loss of a hero. He was a hero before he could walk or talk. He saved our lives before he knew anything. When he came back to the wizarding world, he saved us time and time again. He led a good life..."_

**So meet me by the bridge, meet me by the lane  
When am I going to see that pretty face again  
Meet me on the road, meet me where I said  
Blame it all upon  
A rush of blood to the head**

Hermione sat up suddenly. Something was not right. She pulled on her dressing gown, reached for her cane, and walked as briskly as she could to Draco's room.

She found him lying in bed, curled around that old photo album. A few tears streaked down her face. "Finally," she whispered. "I wondered how long you would hold on for me, dear friend. I know that's the only reason you've been living these past years. Go on home, now." She leaned down and kissed her friend's forehead.

As she turned to leave the room, a light caught her eye. She turned her old body toward the window and gasped. There were two young men walking together hand-in-hand; a blond man, and raven-haired man.

Hermione choked back her tears to smile. She touched her fingers to the glass and whispered, "Go on home, boys. I'll be with you in a little while."


End file.
